US Healthcare

Bianca Zinno

Module 1

US Healthcare System

                This article is about the waste and misuse of funds in the US healthcare system. Thirty cents of every dollar spent in the healthcare system is wasted (Lowry,2012). That comes to a grand total of $750 billion annually (Lowry, 2012).What a large amount of money that is wasted! That amount would cover 150 million workers, the 2008 bailout, or the budget for the Department of Defense (Lowry, 2012).Of this $750 billion, $210 is spent on things that are likely unnecessary, like repeated tests (Lowry, 2012). For example, a lab test that is unnecessary or has been done recently. If a patient had their cholesterol checked, and a month later changes doctors who repeats this test. $130 million is spent on services that could be done cheaper elsewhere, like x-rays done in an ER rather than in a doctor’s office (Lowry, 2012).Going to a minor emergency clinic like CareNow for a broken toe, for example, instead of the ER, would save money.  $75 billion is spent working on healthcare fraud, and $190 billion is spent on paperwork (Lowry, 2012). With all of the recent talk of healthcare reform, the government should also find a way to make sure that the funds spent on healthcare are not wasted like they are in our current healthcare system. Hopefully, something can be done to curb these extraneous costs. Think of the additional research and treatment that could be done on our patients if this money would be put to good use, other than wasting it on things like unnecessary repeat testing and finding better ways to reduce healthcare fraud. People’s lives could be saved because of the additional research and new therapies that could be discovered. Not only that, our personal health insurance costs could go down. Lower premiums would allow for more families to be able to afford insurance.

Works Cited:

Lowry, Annie. (2012, Sept 11).US Healthcare Finds Both Waste and Opportunity to Improve.

 NY Times.. Retrieved from  www.nytimes.com